Ruth's Chris Steak House — Restaurant in Calgary

The year started off rough for everyone. For us, our wedding venue was cancelled and the guest list had to be shortened from 160 people to the limit of 30. My wife and I were very heartbroken to see the one day we had been planning for a year slowly fall apart.

That all changed when we met Kaitlin Zundl and Steven Bendick from Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. We were thinking of a place to celebrate after our wedding ceremony since our venue was cancelled. Our first thought was Ruth's Chris as we both enjoyed a unique dining experience when we celebrated my wife's birthday a year prior to the wedding date.

We were very surprised when we first met Kaitlin and Steven. They were extremely friendly and accommodating to every need we had. They showed us every available room and we fell in love with the Great Room as soon as we viewed it. Kaitlin and Steven both went above and beyond explaining what we were able to do with our limited numbers and they gave us more ideas on how to make our wedding day very special. Throughout the process, they kept in constant communication with us-- from sharing every little detail/idea for menus to offering to help us along the way with the planning and set up of decorations. Throughout the process, we gained two amazing friends that we would never have had the chance to meet in regular circumstances.

Kaitlin and Steven both devoted many hours to plan decorations, customize our menu with our names, and made sure all our needs were met. On our wedding day, we were both confident knowing everything was taken care of at Ruth's Chris for us and our families, without having to stress about anything.

On our wedding day, as we arrived at Ruth's Chris, we were all greeted by friendly staff and Kaitlin and Steven introduced us to our two amazing waiters. Our family and friends were treated with the utmost respect and were catered to everything they asked for. We had ordered reception Hors D'oeuvres (Beef Tenderloin skewers, Smoky Chicken skewers, Mini Crab cakes, and Mini Sweet pot casseroles), which were amazing. They were all a big hit--everyone loved them, and we both heard non-stop compliments about how delicious everything was.

As the guests were transitioned into the Great Room, my wife and I stood waiting in the lobby to be called in for the big entrance. When we heard our names being called and walked into the room, we were both overwhelmed by how amazing everything looked! It was honestly much more than what we dreamed of! The Great Room is very beautiful and perfect for any intimate wedding. From the setting of the tables and décor that the Ruth's Chris team set-up to the natural lighting in the room just made everything come together perfectly. Kaitlin was there every step of the way making sure everything went smoothly-- she simply is the best event coordinator/wedding planner we've ever had the pleasure to meet.

When the main course was served (We chose the New Orleans menu which offered a number of great choices), we could just see how happy everyone in the room was with their food. I have been to Ruth's Chris over a dozen times and I have never been disappointed once. I have tasted their perfectly cooked steaks, lobsters, lamb, salads, accompaniments, delicious dessert, and never left the restaurant unhappy. I have to give a lot of credit to the chefs in the kitchen, as the food was wonderful on our special night, as any of the other nights. To this day, family and friends constantly ask me to take them back to the restaurant because the food is always amazing.

If you are planning on having an intimate wedding, I highly recommend you consider Ruth's Chris as a venue. I normally don't write reviews for any business, but for everything that Kaitlin, Steven, and the staff at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse have done for us, this is the least I can do for all the efforts they've put into making our day unforgettable. I can tell that everyone at Ruth's Chris is passionate at what they do because they provided us with an out of this world service...

Be warned that you may come for a beautiful Porterhouse and get turned away without notice. So when they have a private event such as the Rotary club you would think that they would block off their online reservation service, but no they still let you reserve a table that doesn't exist. Or perhaps they would put a sign on the door advises the resturant is closed before you climb the 30 stairs to the reception desk, but no why display the slightest common courtesy to your patrons. No they much prefer you make a reservation and climb 30 stairs and get to the reception desk, to then be told you aren't from rotary come back tomorrow. This is supposed to be the premier steakhouse in Calgary, and they can't even take the time to shutdown their reservation system or put a sign on the door for a private event.

So it appears you unfortunately disappointed more groups then ours. You have confused us with a different group we had made no Tuesday reservation with a note, nor were we offered an elevator when leaving. In fact I was cut off by your young hostess before I could even say a word, I was told you were closed for rotary, and when I tired to tell your hostess that open table was open and showing open reservations I was cut off immediately and told to come back tomorrow and then they went back to speaking to the other hostess. I did not come back for the Porterhouse, I went elsewhere and had a lovely Tomahawk. My review is valid I left with an empty stomach so food is 0 stars. And the Atmosphere was dismissive and disrespectful, I was not permitted to speak and was cut off mid sentence, which is extremely rude. I do not know who on your team activated open table for the night but I assure you that your website was showing open tables all night. As per your response it appears you treated your other rejected clients with respect offering them the elevator and explanation, as opposed to being cut off, and just told to come back tomorrow. I hope we were not forced to use the stairs and dismissed and disrespected because we were a visibly gay couple.

Well now the owner is getting ridiculous trying to deflect from addressing our concerns by playing up the good deeds of the Rotary convention. I am sorry if you feel providing free meals to an Anti-LGBTQ+ Ponzi Sceme group somehow excuses you from putting a $0.02 piece of paper on your front door saying "closed for private event". Or putting on your website a notice that you are closed. It would be nice if you could take ownership for your mistake, or perhaps train your two 18 year old boy hostesses to be congenial and respectful. In addition I hope you realize that giving free food to the people who have historically been anti LGBTQ+, and may donate money to a charity is not the same as you actually giving money to a charity yourself. All I was asking was for you to put a sign on your door saying closed for a private event....I can see that the ignorance of your hostesses comes directly...

Overall about 3.5-4 but google doesn't allow the half star.

Service - 4 Ambiance - 3.5 Value - 3 (Prime Time menu with no upgrades makes it better) Quality of Food - 5 Quality of Steak - 4.5 Quality/Value of Wine - 4/3

One item of note that stands out is selling strictly US Beef in Alberta; while the waiter did acknowledge it, it seems odd that there wouldn't be an Alberta option in an area world famous for it's beef (I seem to recall there used to be in the past but that was 8 years ago or more).

The wait for the food was amazingly short and the staff were wildly efficient compared to your average experience. Our group did notice that certain members of the group were given significantly more attention than others (topping up wine and water, checking in, brining additional beverages) which tipped the scales of ambiance and service from upscale classy to a little bit greasy and pretentious and so resulted in the reduced rating on service and ambiance. I can appreciate that others seek out that kind of pretense or differential treatment (it's nice to be king after all) but we found it a bit off-putting.

The sides and lobster bisque were fantastic. The steak was some of the best I've had but didn't clearly stand out as THEE best as far as cut and tenderness although the broiling plates is by far the best cooking and presentation I've seen. This may be a case of over-hype more than an actual reduction in quality.

The wine had a good selection, of the selections we made (and given the price points) it left something to be desired though and relative to the steak and sides was probably the weak point of the meal. It was by no means bad, but the house selection to pair with the primetime menu (white with the chicken) bordered on it (again given relative to the level of the venue, it wasn't bad). Taste in wine is a highly subjective thing and it may have been particular to me but at the $100/bottle price point I had to dock some points for the contribution to this particular experience.

For what it is (showy, ritzy, a little pretentious and really good steak) it is probably the best in Calgary area, but it definitely has a specific price tag and ambiance and that experience is factored in as part of the cost. If that is not what you are looking for, then the food alone isn't enough of a draw that I would strongly recommend over...